N. Amsterdam residents saw fatal shooting coming

By Marvin Hokstam on May 6, 2014 - 15:47

The man who shot another dead in Amsterdam Noord was a genuine nuisance, residents of the Twiske-West neighborhood in Nesserland say.

Errol (51) was arrested Monday morning after a shooting incident that left a 31-year-old man dead and another injured. Neighbors say it had only been a matter of time before things surrounding the Suriname-born man would escalate.

He had moved to Twiske-West about a year-and-a-half ago with his three children, but apparently quickly became known as a pest. He always hung on the corner with groups of young man. “The blowing and drinking started at 11.00am and would last till 2.00am or 3.00am,” a neighbor said.

But Errol did more than loitering. “He threatened and assaulted people because they walked their dogs too close to him and didn’t tolerate any car parked on his spot at his front door; a woman parked her car there and found it all keyed up the next day.”

Apparently Errol had been kicked out of his previous house for being a nuisance. Some neighbors suspect he dealt drugs. The claimed people moved out of the neighborhood because they could not take it any longer

Police had been alerted of his behavior, but was always too busy to take action. The housing corporation knew of it as well. “After a couple of these incidents we knew it was only a matter of time before it went sour.”

It did late Saturday night; Errol and Charlton ‘Challa’ Wondel had already had words the week prior about Errol’s “disrespectful and improperly raised children”. Wondel died in the shooting; another man was hit in the leg.

After Errol’s arrest his three children were taken in by relatives.

The neighbors say they hope that this is the end of the nuisance. “I used to close my windows in the summer because of the noise and was happy when autumn came around, because the rains would start and they would stay indoors. I am happy he’s not coming back; I have had it with that man,” one lady said.